In our last blog posting we praised Obama for his vision and leadership in establishing the ConnectED program -- and we excoriated him for not providing new funding to ensure the enactment of the ConnectED program. Ooops! Read on and learn how politics works in Washington -- and how Obama plans, in fact, to add new funding to the ConnectED program!

The Whitehouse announced the ConnectED initiative June 6 with the goal of connecting 99 percent of America's schools in five years and providing teacher training. But, no new money was allocated to realize those lofty goals. Who is the Whitehouse trying to fool?

Learning is all-the-time, everywhere. Mobile computing devices – and only the mobile ones – can support 24/7, everyplace learning. So, how do you decide what is a mobile computing device? Read on for our mobility litmus test

Kyle Menchhofer kicked mobile learning off in rural, blue-collar, St. Marys, OH in 2007. But, in May, 2013, St. Marys voted down the school bond, and the visionary, pioneering program that Kyle created ended. Well, a chapter ended. Check out what Kyle did in 2007 to bring mobile learning to 160 students.

A program in Singapore is bringing smartphones into the classroom as part of an effort to transform instruction to an inquiry-based model. The results? Let's just say the United States needs to take note.

Student performance data is playing an increasingly important role in America’s classrooms. From scientifically based research to survey data to clickstream learning analytics, the volume of data is most definitely increasing. The question, of course, is this: for the better?

We can't ask teachers to use 1:1 computing devices (BYOD or school-purchased) while still giving them only pencil-and-paper curriculum and askign them to figure it out on their own. We need to give teachers new curriculum, with detailed lessons that exploit the affordances of the computing devices, if we want to see increases in student achievement.

Whitepapers

Apple’s new education features included with iOS 9.3 attempt to address some of the most challenging issues surrounding iPad® deployments in schools. The question is why now? For one, Apple’s position in education is increasingly under stress. Google Chromebook™ notebook computers, with their easy management, and powerful learning tools have taken the U.S. education market by storm. This white paper reviews the latest education features of iOS 9.3 and shortfalls when compared to Windows and Chrome devices.
Read more...